TROY -- On Saturday, the governor declared a state-wide Public Health Emergency which temporarily suspended a state law preventing pharmacists from administering flu vaccinations to individuals under 18-years-old, but that does not mean it will be any easier for young people to receive vaccines.

The family of Martin Reid, a resident of West Sand Lake and chair of the Rensselaer County Legislature, heard about the governor's directory on Friday and Saturday; on Sunday, Reid took his 13-year-old daughter to the Rite-Aid Pharmacy on Rte. 43 in West Sand Lake, but was turned away at the counter.

"We were told that they were told by their management not to do it without a doctor's written order or script," Reid explained.

The Executive Order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to have caught local pharmacies off-guard, who have been scrambling to issue pharmacist procedures and keep their stores supplied with the vaccine.

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Rite-Aid is limiting their vaccines to young people over the age of 9, and is requiring a prescription while the pharmacies of Target Corp. have limited their vaccines to young people over the age of 4 and without a prescription. Marra's Pharmacy in Cohoes has side-stepped the need for instituting procedures by prohibiting their pharmacists from issuing flu vaccines to anyone under the age of 18, a stance also taken by officials from CVS pharmacies.

"We are working as quickly as possible to allow CVS pharmacists to vaccinate patients under the age of 17 years," said Michael DeAngelis, a spokesperson for CVS. "However, the (governor's) order did not address other related issues that we are in the process of resolving before our pharmacists can vaccinate minors, including an exemption for the physician protocols, under which pharmacists are permitted to vaccinate patients 18 and older without a written prescription."

In addition to the need for quickly instituting policies, local pharmacies are facing a shortage of vaccines across the region. On Tuesday afternoon, none of the six CVS pharmacies located in Rensselaer County had flu vaccines in stock, and most had run out on Friday and Saturday.

"Due to high demand caused by the outbreaks of influenza across the country, some of our locations are experiencing sporadic shortages of flu vaccine," explained DeAngelis. "We are resupplying stores as quickly as possible." The local pharmacies are tentatively expecting a vaccine shipment Tuesday.

Rite-Aid pharmacies in the area were also experiencing similar shortages Monday. The store in West Sand Lake and one near the HVCC campus had run out of their vaccines by Monday afternoon, while the Rite Aid on Columbia Street in Rensselaer had only three left in the early evening. The only Rite-Aid with substantial stock was at 1901 Second Ave. in Watervliet. There is no clear indication when Rite-Aid stores may be receiving another shipment of vaccines.

Nearly every pharmacist was urging that prospective customers call beforehand to verify that stores were supplied.

The demand for the vaccine is "unprecedented," said DeAngelis. That demand is likely the result of the governor's directive in combination with the unexpectedly high number of flu cases across the state and the region. As of Jan. 5, there had been nearly 20,000 positive cases of influenza reported in the state this season, more than quadrupling the number of cases reported last year and a level of affliction the state has not seen since 2009, according to the state Department of Health. Of the cases reported this season, 2,884 patients were hospitalized with influenza, whereas only 1,169 people were hospitalized throughout last season.

The emergency department at Samaritan Hospital has seen the result of this flu outbreak -- a heavy volume of people exhibiting flu-like symptoms since early to mid December and especially in the past few weeks. An additional 20 to 30 people a day has kept the hospital completely full and far more hectic than usual, said Dr. John Janikas, head of the Samaritan Hospital emergency room

"I remember (last year) thinking, 'When is the flu going to hit?' and it never really materialized," Janikas said. "This year has been heavy and early and that is what caught us by surprise."

This past weekend, however, Janikas said he had seen a slight decrease in the number of flu-like cases, a possible indication that the flu-season may have crested this year, Janikas said. He cautioned, however, that "it's always tough to say, after two or three days working in the ER, what happened."